One of the most interesting stories of early fiberglass history is that of Eric Irwin and his Lancers – yes, more than one of them. Despite being one of the first to be recognized as creating a fiberglass sports car, alongside his good friend Bill Tritt, Eric Irwin has been virtually forgotten, which makes him a perfect topic for us.

Back in 1951, Eric Irwin and Bill Tritt were neighbors on Industrial Way, a business street in Costa Mesa, California. Tritt was growing his newly formed company, Glasspar, which built fiberglass boats, and Irwin was building a 50-foot motorboat for his own use. Both of these men were artisans in woodworking, and Tritt had already made the transition to working in fiberglass. Irwin didn’t know it at the time, but he was soon to follow.

Irwin started building his car – which would ultimately be called the Lancer – in the fall of 1950. He was inspired to change directions and work on a car after watching Tritt work out the requirements for producing a sports car body in fiberglass. Why fiberglass? Tritt had convinced the person who commissioned the car to be built – Air Force Major Ken Brooks – that fiberglass had the perfect properties for a sports car body: It was lightweight, strong, and easily repairable when damaged. Aluminum was lightweight, but required much more time in the shop if repairs were needed. Brooks agreed, and Irwin – a nearby fly on the wall during these conversations – took notice.

According to noted author Joseph H. Wherry in an article published in Modern Man in November 1952, Tritt finished his sports car (initially called the Brooks Boxer before he changed the name to Glasspar G2) in June 1951 and Eric Irwin finished his in May 1951. These sports cars seemed destined to race from the beginning of their design, and at mile marker 1 – the finished product – Irwin was ahead by a month. Lots of activity surrounded these two men from the summer of 1951 through late 1952. For example, Harley Earl stopped by and spent half a day with Irwin, then later retained Tritt as a consultant to GM. Both of Tritt’s sons remember their father making more than one trip to Detroit, contributing to the knowledge base of building a fiberglass sports car – and GM wanted to build a car that numbered in the thousands, which would be quite a feat.

But that was just the first of the story for both of these men. Eric continued promoting the use of fiberglass as a new wonder material for car bodies across the world. To get a feel for his work at the time, think about carbon fiber today. This is the new wonder material for our generation, and we stand in awe of a car built of carbon fiber composite. It’s handcrafted, resilient, lightweight, strong, malleable, and acts just like fiberglass in many ways. If you’re one of those car guys who think carbon-fiber cars are the pinnacle of modern automotive engineering, then you would have fallen in love with fiberglass as both Tritt and Irwin did from 1951 forward.

The reason Irwin’s story is fascinating to us at Forgotten Fiberglass is that he’s unknown to virtually all car guys nowadays. Yet he accomplished so much in the early years of fiberglass:

* He authored the first article written on how to create your own fiberglass-bodied sports car, which appeared in the November 1951 issue of Motor Trend.
* He wrote the first book that you could buy on how to create your own fiberglass sports car.
* His fiberglass sports car, the Lancer, was available for purchase in early 1951 before other fiberglass manufacturers – including Glasspar – tooled up and made their bodies available.
* The first article to appear about a fiberglass car being built that you could buy was published in the U.K. magazine The Motor and was published on January 30th, 1952.
* His Lancer was even featured in the program for the 1951 Petersen Motorama where it debuted – the only fiberglass car to be shown in the program.
* It went on to appear in a number of other publications, including Motor Trend, Auto Speed and Sport, Westways, Popular Science, Modern Man, Road & Track, Cars, Auto Sportsman, Hot Rod, Modern Plastics, and the Los Angeles Times

The last contemporary mention of Irwin’s Lancers appeared in the Spring of 1955 in Herb Shriner’s first and only issue of a magazine titled Motor America.

Irwin built 12 bodies for his sports cars from 1951 through 1955, according to his nephew, 72-year-old Brian Jennings of Arizona. I was very excited when I heard from Brian last year, and was able to peruse the family archives for clues about Irwin and this history of his cars. Thankfully, Irwin made it easy for me. He wrote the history of his company and cars out across several pages detailing his company, the cars he built, the bodies he made, and the people he met. For a one-man operation, Eric represented the industrious fiberglass-driven hard-working young man of the early ’50s. He finished what he started with great energy, focus, and drive.

Eric built three variations of his sports car. All would be considered large, but each used the following specifications:

He noted in his brochure that “the body shell is shipped without wheel cut-out. This allows greater leeway in adapting the body to your chassis.” Most cars we’ve seen or have found have the 112-inch wheelbase. For comparison, a typical car from the era has a 100-inch wheelbase.

The first Lancer he made – the one that debuted at the Petersen Motorama in 1951 – was unique. The others used different configurations or designs for the front, and sometimes the rear. In between, it was the same body style. One of the pictures shown inside his brochure shows three of the body styles together with Irwin in between the two nearest cars. This will give you a feel for the man and his sports cars.

So we’re on a mission at Forgotten Fiberglass, and that’s to share and celebrate the accomplishments of the craftsman, artisans, designers, and fabricators who used fiberglass as their medium in helping realize their dreams of building the perfect sports car. We take our fiberglass hats off and salute you, Eric Irwin, a pioneer in fiberglass who accomplished so much in so short a period of time.

Geoff Hacker is a Tampa, Florida-based automotive historian who specializes in tracking down bizarre, off-beat, and undocumented automobiles. His favorites are Fifties American fiberglass-bodied cars, and he shares his research into those cars at ForgottenFiberglass.com.

13 Responses to “Forgotten Fiberglass – Eric Irwin and His Lancer”

Interesting story Geoff. The NCRS (National Corvette Restorers Society) is having a Regional meet in Tucson, Arizon March 8-10. Perhaps Brian Jennings of Arizona may be interested in attending. There will be many owners of early Corvettes at the event and they will enjoy the history.

awesome article! I love these historical fact-finding pieces. The research necessary to put the puzzle together is very much appreciated. And the car itself! What proportions! For the ’50s it’s so restrained, too. I would have been very attracted to this car had I been around then. I’m going to go through my early ’50s car mags later and see if I can find any other mentions of it. Thank you.

It appears that the bodies were made to fit a frame of a car of that era, correct? I ask because of the Lancer Studebaker and Lancer Ford in the brochure. I also find the body style very appealing! It would be great if Brian Jennings could attend the Corvette Regional meet in Tucson. I know if I had a Corvette I would love to hear what he says. Heck, event without a Corvette I would love to hear what he says.

@Nolan Pahud – GM had great input from Owens Corning and other companies such as Lunn Laminates to help so they would have been fine. However, like any well-managed project, you consider all possibilities and bring in experts from all fields as you assemble your project and team. In this vein, GM brought in Tritt and visited with Irwin.

@Bob Arper – One of the pieces we included in this story was how to build your own frame. Eric Irwin actually suggested a competent but more complex than usual frame. You can consult the image above on how to build your own frame for a Lancer – using some parts from existing vehicles.

@Brian Jennings – hey Brian! Jim Gessner was kind to offer an invitation. However, no Lancers will be there – but some fantastic Corvettes will be! You’ll have a ball if you go. Maybe you should try and hook up with Jim before the show.